Clothes pounder



July 9, 1929. c. H. CANFIELD CLOTHES POUNDER Filed Oct. 28, 1926Patented July 9, 1929.

CHARLES HERBERT CANFIELD, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

CLOTHES POUNDER.

Application filed October 28, 1926.

as it is known that when an inverted cupmember is brought forcibly intoengagement with clothes lmmersed 1n suds or the like the compressingeflect causes the air within the cup to pass through the clothes, andthat when the compressing effect is relieved there is a vacuum formingtendency which sucks water through the clothes, all dirt beingeffectually loosened and removed. i

It is with the above broad principle in view that I have designed thepresent invention which has for an object the provision of a washingdevice which may be clamped upon the side of a tub and in which themoving parts may be swung horizontally so as to bring the cup intoengagement with all the clothes being washed instead of it operatingonly at one very limited area.

An important object of the invention is to provide a device for thispurpose embodying a cup which acts as the pounder, a lever and linkmechanism being provided whereby the pounder itself maybe givenrelatively long travel as compared with short travel of the operatinglever, the arrangement being such that the movement of the cup orpounder will be rapid at the beginning of its downward stroke, when itencounters but little resistance, and much slower upon approaching theend of its stroke when greater power is needed to compress the clothesowing to the resistance thereof. y

An important object is alsoto provide a device of this characterprovided with guide means connected with the cup and control- I ling theposition thereof to effect tilting at the bottom of its stroke so thatthe imprisoned air may bubble out or escape, thereby increasing thesuction effect upon the upstroke.

Yet another object is to provide a device of this character having themovable parts arranged in a certain peculiar relative man- Serial No.144,781.

ner to insure the desired movements, adjustable spring means being,moreover, provided for assisting during the upstroke.

An additional object is to provide a device of this character which willbe simple and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to apply and use,positive in action, efficient and durable 1n service, and a generalimprovement in the art.

lVith the above and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionpreferably consists in the arrangement and combination of parts anddetailed structural features to be hereinafter more fully described andclaimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1is a side elevation of the device showing it arranged at the top of atub prior to being clamped thereon and showing the normal position ofthe parts.

Figure 2 is an elevation showing the device clamped in position and theoperating lever moved to bring the pounder or cup to the lower limit ofits movement, and

Figure 3 is a bottom plan View of the cup.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates abracket which is here shown as used in connection with a clamp 2 adaptedto be engaged upon the up per edge of a tub A or other similar suitablereceptacle. This clamp may be of any ordinary or preferred constructionbut it is here represented as having a depending tongue or lug 3 fittingwithin the tub, and an adjustable thumb screw or the like 4 adapted toengage against the outside of the tub. The

clamp also carries or is formed with an upstanding trunnion 5 upon whichthe bracket member 1 is detachably and rotatably mounted and thistrunnion is preferably of suflicient length to project upwardly beyondthe intermediate portion of the bracket, this projecting end carrying acollar 6 held in place by a removable pin 7, engageable through a holein the trunnion and a selected. one of a plurality of holes 6 located indiffer ent planes in the collar. The purpose of this feature is topermit taking up wear which may occur, it being desirable to preventmovement of the bracket along the trunnion. This arrangement alsopermits ready connection and disconnection.

Pivoted at 8 upon the upper end of the bracket member 1 is the main oroperating lever 9 which is intended to be of some length greater thanthe width of the tub upon which for a reason to be explained. It ispreferable that the arm 12 be urged normally toward the lever 9 by aspring 16 which may be mounted in any preferred manner as for instancebyhaving its ends engageable within holes 17 and 18 in the lever 9 andarm 12 re spectivel A series of holes is provided in each of t e arms sothat by shifting the posisealed. with cork or the like 17 to preventingressof water. i

The arm 12 carries a pounder formed preferably as a substantiallyconical cup 19 which is open at its bottom and which has its topcarrying one or more lugs 20 to which the arm 12 is pivoted as shown at21. For maintaining the cup in proper position and guiding it duringmovement of the parts, I prefer to employ a rod 22 which is slidablethrough the lever 9 and rigidlysecured to the cup in any desired mannerasfor instance by having its lower end connected with the center of aspider which may conveniently be formed of intersecting wires or thelike 23 located at and secured in any desired manner to the open end ofthe cup.

In order to mount the device for use. the clamp 2 is engaged upon theedge of the tub A or the like and the screw 1 is ti ghtened to maintainthe proper holding action. Owing to the peculiar formation of thebracket 1 and its mounting upon the trunnion 5. it will be clear thatthe pivot points 8 and 11 are out of vertical alinement, the formerbeing above but outwardly ofthe tub and the latter being below the topand spaced from the inner wallthereof. Initially the lever 9 will extendin'a probably slightly inclined position and be s aced above the edge ofthe tub and the arm 12 carrying the cup 19 will be in its uppermostposition. Whether the clothes to be washed, and the suds, are placed inthe tub before or after the device is mounted in position is immaterial.

: Assuming that the articles to be washed are in place, the-operatorgrasps the lever 9 at the handle or grip 10 and forces the leverdownwardly. The link 14 connected with the lever and with the arm 12will operate to force the latter downwardly. It will be noted that atthetop of the strok'e air of course fills the cup; When the lever is forceddownwardly to bring the cup into forcible engagement with the clothes.the air is imprisoned and as the downward pressure is i11- creased theair is compressed or there is, at least, a tendency to compress it whichwill obviously result in causing the air to pass out through theclothes. When the cup reaches the bottom of the tub the clothes a repositively squeezed while the action of the guide rod 22 will result intipping the cup slightly into the position shown in Figure 2 so that theremaining imprisoned air may bubble out and escape through the liquidThe down stroke having been completed, the operator moves the lever 9upwardly. the movement being greatly assisted by the spring 16 whichtends always to swing the arm 12 upwardly. On this upstroke. there is atendency to form a vacuum in the cup and the clothes are lifted to thesurface of the liquid where the vacuum is then broken so that theclothes will drop back into the tub. Quite naturally the alternateforcing of air through the clothes on the downstrokc and sucking of sudsthrough them on the upstroke will result in loosening the dirt so thatthe clothes will be very eifcctually clmmscd.

Owing to the peculiar pivoting of the arm 12 with respect to the lever 9and the location of the points 15 and 13 at which the link '14 is piyoted to the lever and arm it is clear that at the beginning of thedownstrokc the movement of the cup is rather rapid. This is desirable asit causes agitation of the suds and as no particular degree of power isneeded to bring the cup into somewhat forcible engagement with theclothes. However, as the downward movement of the lever continued thespeed of the cup decreases on account of the pivot and link arrmigcmcntabove mentioned and as the speed decreases, the compressive poweragainst the clothes increases proportionately while there is no changein the rate of movement of the lever. This is also highly desirable as agreater dcgree of power is needed to force the cup down wardly as itapproaches the lower limit of its movement as the compressed clothesare. at this time, ofi'ering greater resistance.

Inasmuch as the bracket carrying all the movable mechanism is pivotedupon the trunnion 5, the entire assembly may he swung horizontally sothat the cup may be brought into action at different points between theopposite sides of the tub, all portions of the clothes being thus actedupon.

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawings, it will beapparent llll that I have thus provided'a simply connection with anyordinary tub or other similar receptacle, no special equipment beingneeded.

VVhil-e I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of theinvention, it should be understood that I reserve the right to make suchchanges in the form, construction and arrangement of parts as will notdepart from the spirit of the invention. or the scope of the subjoinedclaims.

Having thus described the invention I claim 7 r 1. A pound-er washercomprising a sup port adapted to be mounted upon a receptacle, anactuating lever terminally pivoted to said support for vertical swingingmovement, an arm terminally pivoted to the sup port for verticalmovement, a link pivotally connected with the lever and the arm neartheir pivoted ends and at unequal distances from the pivots thereof, anda pounder cap carried by the arm.

2. A pounder washer comprising a support adapted to be mounted upon areceptacle, an actuating lever pivoted to said support for verticalswinging movement, an arm pivoted to the support for vertical move ment,a link pivotally connected with the lever and the arm at unequaldistances from the pivots thereof, a pounder cup carried by the arm, andmeans carried by the cup and engaging the lever for guiding the cupduring its movement.

8. A pounder washer comprising a sup port adapted to be mounted upon areceptacle, an actuating lever pivoted to said support for verticalswinging movement, an arm pivoted to the support for vertical move ment,a link pivotally connected with the lever and the arm at unequaldistances from the pivots thereof, a pounder cup carried by the arm, andmeans carried by the cup and engaging the lever for guiding the cupduring its movement, comprising a rod rigid with respect to the cup andslidable through the lever.

4. In a clothes pounder oi the character described, a supporting memberadapted to be clamped upon the edge of a receptacle, a bracket carriedby said supporting member, an actuating lever pivoted 011 one end ofsaid bracket for movement in a vertical direction, an arm pivoted on theother end of the bracket, the pivot points of the arm and lever beingout of vertical alinement, a cup carried by the arm, and link meanspivotally connected with. the lever and the arm, the distance betweenthe pivot point of the arm and the pivotal connection. of the link meanstherewith being less than the distance between the pivot point of thelever and the point of connection of the link means there with.

5. In a device oi the character described, a supporting member adaptedto be mounted on a receptacle, a bracket carried by said supportingmember and arranged at an incline with respect to the vertical, anactuating lever pivotally connected with the upper end of the bracket,an arm pivotally connected with the lower end of the bracket, meansconnecting the arm and lever for simultaneous movement at differentspeeds, a cup pivotally carried by the arm, and guide means rigidlycarried by the cup and slid ably engaging the lever for effectingtilting of the cup.

6. In a device of the character described, a supporting member adaptedto be engaged upon a receptacle and having an upstanding trunnion, abracket rotatably and detachably mounted upon said trunnion, a leveroperated pounder carried by the bracket, said trunnion projectingupwardly beyond. the bracket and having a transverse hole therein, acollar on the projecting end of the trun nion having a plurality ofradial holes therein located in different horizontal planes any one ofwhich is adapted to be brought into registration with the hole in thetrunnion, and a securing element passing through the registering holes.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoatfixed my signature.

CHAR-LES HERBERT GANFIELD.

